ARTICLE XIII. Adopted August, 1864. (Every elector of this State who shall be in the military service of the United States, either as a drafted person or volunteer, during the present rebellion, shall when absent from this State, because of such service, have the same right to vote in any elec tion of State officers, Representatives in Congress, and electors of President and Vice-President of the United States, as he would have if present at the time appointed for such election, in the town in which he resided at the time of his enlistment into such service. This provision shall in no case extend to persons in the regular army of the United States, and shall cease and become inoperative and void upon the termination of the present war. The General Assembly shall prescribe, by law, in what manner and at what time the votes of electors absent from this State, in the military service of the United States, shall be received, counted, returned and canvassed.) (Now inoperative.) ARTICLE XIV. Adopted October, 1873. All annual and special sessions of the General Assembly shall, on and after the first Wednesday of May, A. D. 1875, be held at Hartford, but the person administering the office of Governor may, in case of special emergency, convene said Assembly at any other place in the State. ARTICLE XV. Adopted October, 1874. The House of Representatives shall consist of electors residing in towns from which they are elected. Every town which now contains, or hereafter shall contain, a population of five thousand, shall be entitled to send two representatives, and every other one shall be entitled to its present representation in the General Assembly. The population of each town shall be determined by the enumeration made under the authority of the cen sus of the United States next before the election of Representatives is held. ARTICLE XVI. Adopted October, 1875. Section 1. A general election for Governor, Lieutenant-Governor, Secretary of State, Treasurer, Comptroller and members of the General Assembly, shall be held on the Tuesday after the first Monday of November, 1876, and annually thereafter, for such officers as are herein and may be hereafter prescribed (altered by amendment of 1884). Sec. 2. The State officers above named, and the Senators from those districts having even numbers, elected on the Tuesday after the first Monday of November, 1876, and those elected biennially thereafter on the Tuesday after the first Monday of November, shall respectively hold their offices for two years from and after the Wednesday following the first Monday of the next succeeding January. The Senators from those districts having odd numbers elected on the Tuesday after the first Monday of November, 1876, shall hold their offices for one year from and after the Wednesday following the first Monday of January, 1877; the electors residing in the senatorial districts having odd numbers shall, on the Tuesday after the first Monday of November, 1877, and biennially thereafter, elect Senators who shall hold their offices for two years from and after the Wednesday following the first Monday of the next succeeding January. The Representatives elected from the several towns on the Tuesday after the first Monday of November, 1876, and those elected annually thereafter, shall hold their offices for one year from and after the Wednesday following the first Monday of the next succeeding January (altered by amendment of 1884). Sec. 3. There shall be a stated session of the General Assembly in Hartford on the Wednesday after the first Monday of January, 1877, and annually (altered by amendment of 1884) thereafter on the Wednesday after the first Monday of January. Sec. 4. The persons who shall be severally elected to the State offices and General Assembly on the first Monday of April, 1876, shall hold such offices only until the Wednesday after the first Monday of January, 1877. Sec. 5. The General Assembly elected in April, 1876, shall have power to pass such laws as may be necessary to carry into effect the provisions of this amendment. ARTICLE XVII. Adopted October, 1875. The General Assembly shall have power, by a vote of twothirds of the members of both branches, to restore the privi leges of an elector to those who may have forfeited the same by a conviction of crime. ARTICLE XVIII. Adopted October, 1876. In case a new town shall hereafter be incorporated, such new town shall not be entitled to a Representative in the General Assembly unless it has at least twenty-five hundred inhabitants, and unless the town from which the major portion of its territory is taken has also at least twenty-five hundred inhabitants; but until such towns shall each have at least twenty-five hundred inhabitants, such new town shall, for the purpose of representation in the General Assembly, be attached to and be deemed to be a part of, the town from which the major portion of its territory is taken, and it shall be an election district of such town for the purpose of representation in the House of Representatives. ARTICLE XIX. Adopted October, 1876. The provisions of Section 2, Article IV of the Constitution, and of the amendments thereto, shall apply, mutatis mutandis, to all elections held on the Tuesday after the first Monday of November, 1876, and annually thereafter. ARTICLE XX. Adopted October, 1876. Judges of the Courts of Common Pleas, and of the District Courts, shall be appointed for terms of four years. Judges of the City Courts and Police Courts shall be appointed for terms of two years. ARTICLE XXI. Adopted October, 1876. Judges of Probate shall be elected by the electors residing in their respective districts on the Tuesday after the first Monday of November, 1876, and biennially thereafter. Those persons elected Judges of Probate on the Tuesday after the first Monday of November, 1876, and those elected biennially thereafter, shall hold their offices for two years from and after the Wednesday after the first Monday of the next succeeding January. Those persons elected Judges of Probate on the first Monday of April, 1876, shall hold their offices only until the Wednesday after the first Monday of January, 1877. ARTICLE XXII. Adopted October, 1876. The compensation of members of the General Assembly shall not exceed three hundred dollars per annum, and one mileage each way for each session, at the rate of twenty-five cents per mile (altered by amendment of 1884). ARTICLE XXIII. Adopted October, 1876. That Article VIII of the amendments to the Constitution be amended by erasing the word "white" from the first line. ARTICLE XXIV. Neither the General Assembly nor any county, city, borough, town or school district shall have power to pay or grant any extra compensation to any public officer, employe, agent or servant, or increase the compensation of any public officer or employe, to take effect during the continuance in office of any person whose salary might be increased thereby, or increase the pay or compensation of any public contractor above the amount specified in the contract. ARTICLE XXV. No county, city, town, borough or other municipality shall ever subscribe to the capital stock of any railroad corporation, or become a purchaser of the bonds, or make donation to, or loan its credit, directly or indirectly, in aid of any such corporation; but nothing herein contained shall affect the validity of any bonds or debts incurred under existing laws, nor be construed to prohibit the General Assembly from authorizing any town or city to protect, by additional appropriations of money or credit, any railroad debt contracted prior to the adoption of this amendment. ARTICLE XXVI. Adopted October, 1880. The Judges of the Supreme Court of Errors, and of the Superior Court, shall, upon nomination of the Governor, be appointed by the General Assembly, in such manner as shall by law be prescribed. ARTICLE XXVII. Adopted October, 1884. Section 1. A general election for Governor, Lieutenant-Governor, Secretary, Treasurer, Comptroller and members of the General Assembly, shall be held on the Tuesday after the first Monday of November, 1886, and biennially thereafter for such officers as are herein and may be hereafter, prescribed. Sec. 2. The State officers above named, and members of the General Assembly, elected on the Tuesday after the first Monday of November, 1886, and those elected biennially thereafter on the Tuesday after the first Monday of November, shall hold their respective offices from the Wednesday following the first Monday of the next succeeding January, until the Wednesday after the first Monday of the third succeeding January, and until their successors are duly qualified. Sec. 3. The compensation of members of the General Assembly shall not exceed three hundred dollars for the term for which they are elected, and one mileage each way for the regular session, at the rate of twenty-five cents per mile; they shall also receive one mileage, at the same rate, for attending any extra session called by the Governor. Sec. 4. The regular sessions of the General Assembly shall commence on the Wednesday following the first Monday of the January next succeeding the election of its members. Sec. 5. The Senators elected on the Tuesday after the first Monday of November, 1885, shall hold their offices only until the Wednesday after the first Monday of January, 1887. ARTICLE XXVIII. Adopted October, 1886. Sheriffs shall be elected in the several counties, on the Tuesday after the first Monday of November, 1886, and quadrennially thereafter, for the term of four years, commencing on the first day of June following their election. |